Asean Para Games: Alegarbes seizes two swim golds in record style

Ariel Joseph Alegarbes was unstoppable in the butterfly race. —CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Abner Alegarbes accompanied his son from Manila all the way to the swimming competitions of the 11th Asean Para Games in Semarang, Indonesia.

The trip was worth the effort after Ariel Joseph Alegarbes handed to his father a pair of shiny gold medals made more memorable by the manner these were accomplished.

The 18-year-old swimmer from Victoria, Negros Oriental emerged as the latest Filipino pool sensation on Tuesday, bagging the mints in the men’s 100-meter backstroke S14 and 50m butterfly S14 before a lean Filipino crowd at the Jatidiri Sports Complex pool in record-shattering fashion.

“I feel like I’m about to explode because I was not expecting this. This is for my father who led me into swimming,’’ said Alegarbes, who suffers from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder with learning disability and dyslexia.

Nobody actually anticipated the twin heroic feats that Alegarbes pulled off. It was an unforgettable outing in the 100m back after Alegarbes charged ahead in the last 10 meters to strike gold by a touch in one minute and 3.01 seconds.

“Of course I am very proud of my son and I am glad to witness his accomplishment,’’ said the euphoric elder Alegarbes, who had to leave his job as a construction worker after learning of his son’s disability at an early age.

Alegarbes edged Muhammad Imaan Aiman, who led the race three-fourths of the way before settling for the silver in 1:03.20 followed by Thailand’s Mrjirachot Chuvong at distant third in 1:11.68.

Ariel Joseph Alegarbes splashes his way to victory in the men’s 50-meter butterfly S14 event in the swimming competition of the 11th ASEAN Para Games Tuesday at Jatadiri Sports Complex pool in Semarang, Indonesia. –CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Shortly after that scintillating win, Alegarbes went back to the pool and ruled the men’s 50m butterfly S14 in 26.43 after leading the pack from start to finish.

He established new meet records in both events.

Alegarbes, the country’s first double-gold performer in the meet, first broke the five-year-old backstroke mark of Indonesia’s Muhammad (1:03.60) in the 2017 Asean Para Games in Kuala Lumpur and erased the joint butterfly record of Malaysia’s W.Y. Chung and Indonesian D. Nugruho of 30.01 seconds, also in Malaysia.

Both feats were a fitting follow-up to his gold and silver in the 100m butterfly S14 and 100m backstroke S14, respectively, in the Asian Youth Para Games held in Manama, Bahrain, last December.

Ernie Gawilan, winning the men’s 400m freestyle S7 event last Monday, settled for silver in the men’s 100m backstroke S7 in 1:21.13 for the other swimming medal of the day in the stint supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

The country’s track and field team likewise continued to have a productive campaign Tuesday morning at the Manahan Stadium with runner and newcomer King James Reyes and veteran thrower Jesebel Tordecilla boosting the athletic haul to four golds, and counting.

Reyes topped the men’s 5,000m race T46 event, his time pending confirmation from meet officials, while Tordecilla took the gold with her heave of 14.21 meters on her third attempt.

A gold medalist in the women’s javelin throw T54 last Monday, Cendy Asusano added a bronze to her collection in the women’s discus throw, which was the same medals won by Ron Russel Mitra and Evaristo Carbonel in the men’s long jump T20 and men’s discus throw F11-13, respectively.